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An ex-member of the carabinieri, Italy’s military police, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the rape of one of two American students assaulted in late 2017.

The students, aged 19 and 21 at the time, were leaving a club on the night of 6th-7th September 2017 in Florence when they were offered a ride home by Marco Camuffo and Pietro Costa, at the time both on-duty policemen driving an official police car.

Instead of leaving on arriving at the students’ accommodation, the men, who were armed with guns, entered the building with them, and are accused of raping the girls, who reported the incident immediately after it occurred.

The girls were given medical checks and found to have blood alcohol levels of 1.5 grams per litre, reports La Stampa – a level at which people slur their speech and have trouble maintaining their balance.

Investigators used CCTV footage to reconstruct the events of the night and the two men were kicked off the police force in May.

Camuffo, 45, was convicted after he opted for a fast-track trial which offers an automatic one third reduction in sentence.

Costa, 33, has chosen to take his case to a full trial, which will begin in May 10th 2019.

According to La Repubblica, Camuffo made spontaneous statements as the verdict against him was announced, accusing Costa of being the one who had the idea to drive the students home, and claiming that the 21-year-old student he is convicted of raping did not resist his advances.

Camuffo’s lawyers Cristina Menichetti and Filippo Viggiano have said they will appeal his sentence.

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